An Almost Daily Devotional for the Pursuit of Godly Manhood

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Godly Men

This blog does not officially begin until January 1, 2015. However, I thought I would periodically recycle some old devotions here until that time. Enjoy.

Assorted Texts from Luke 12

Time spent in the gospels has been time well spent. As I have listened to my Lord’s words I have been able to discern themes that run near and dear to his heart. I guess these themes are fairly obvious and would be hard to miss even to the casual reader. What impresses me, I suppose, is the sheer frequency of certain teachings from our Lord. There’s a sense of urgency about them. Today’s reading in Luke 12 is an example.

Luke 12:1 – “Be on guard against the yeast of the Pharisees…”

Luke 12:15 – “Watch out! Be on guard against all kinds of greed…”

Luke 12:40 – “You also must be ready, because the Son of Man will come at an hour when you do not expect him.”

Whether we are talking about false teachings and practices of religious leaders, temptation and sin in our own lives, or the consummation of all things at the return of the King, we are commanded to be on guard, to watch out, to be ready.

This theme of preparation appears and reappears much in Jesus’ teaching. As repetition for rabbis in the first century was a didactic tool or technique – to ensure a vital point was made and received – we do well to pay careful attention here. It would be akin to a school teacher in our day writing a point on a chalkboard and saying, “If I’m taking the time to write this out, you can bet it will appear on your exam.” We ignore such warnings to our peril. (feel free to insert whatever present-day technological version of this illustration is apt.)

What strikes me about this is the call on our part for disciplined intentionality. For you cannot casually or lazily “be on guard,” or “watch out,” or “be ready.” We could endlessly cite analogies from the world of sports or the military to show just how essential such intense, intentional, and disciplined preparation is. Without it, the game is lost, the city taken, the soul forfeited.

If I let my guard down today, it is true that Jesus may not return… this day. But I don’t think that’s the main point of our Lord. Instead, we must consider what the accumulation of days with a lowered guard will do to a person. The spiritual atrophy that would set in would be catastrophic to an individual. The dominion of the world, the flesh, and the devil would enlarge in that person’s life with one of two results. The first is that the person would possibly wake up, only too late to put up any real fight, and thus lose the battle. The second possibility would be that the person would never awaken from their slumber and thus become an occupied territory unaware. In either case, without a work of divine grace, the battle is lost, and perhaps even the war.

We do well to heed our Master’s words today – to be on guard continually, to always be ready, and to constantly watch out. For our foes are nearer to us and subtler that we can imagine. Only an intentional and disciplined watchman on the high wall of the citadel of the soul can and will be properly prepared.

Let us, therefore, be ready. For I can think of nothing worse than to fall in battle, knowing that I could have easily seen the attack coming and prevented it…if only I had listened to and obeyed my King.